Abstract: A mass spectrometer comprising: a vacuum chamber; and an ion inlet assembly for transmitting analyte ions into the vacuum chamber; wherein the spectrometer is configured to operate in a cooling mode in which it selectively controls one or more gas flow to the ion inlet assembly for actively cooling the ion inlet assembly.

Abstract: A start-up routine for a mass spectrometer is performed automatically upon switching ON the mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer comprises a plurality of functional modules connected thereto, each module operable to perform a predetermined function of the mass spectrometer in use. The start-up routine comprises detecting which functional modules are present in the set of a plurality of functional modules connected to the mass spectrometer, and performing one or more steps of the start-up routine based upon the results of the detection.

Abstract: A mass spectrometer includes a control system arranged to assess an operational state of the mass spectrometer. When a fault is detected, the control system assigns the fault to one of a plurality of categories, including a first category of faults which may be attempted to be rectified automatically by the mass spectrometer, a second category of faults which may be attempted to be rectified by the user, and a third category of faults which may only be attempted to be rectified by a service engineer. When a fault is assigned to the first category of faults, the control system initiates an attempt to automatically rectify the fault. When a fault is assigned to the second category of faults, the control system causes information relating to the fault to be displayed to the user, including data indicative of the fault and data one or more steps to be taken by the user to attempt to rectify the fault (2000).

Abstract: A mass spectrometer includes a control system arranged to assess an operational state of the mass spectrometer. When a fault is detected, the control system assigns the fault to one of a plurality of categories, including a first category of faults which may be attempted to be rectified automatically by the mass spectrometer, a second category of faults which may be attempted to be rectified by the user, and a third category of faults which may only be attempted to be rectified by a service engineer. When a fault is assigned to the first category of faults, the control system initiates an attempt to automatically rectify the fault. When a fault is assigned to the second category of faults, the control system causes information relating to the fault to be displayed to the user, including data indicative of the fault and data one or more steps to be taken by the user to attempt to rectify the fault (2000).

Abstract: A mass spectrometer comprising: a vacuum chamber; and an ion inlet assembly for transmitting analyte ions into the vacuum chamber; wherein the spectrometer is configured to operate in a cooling mode in which it selectively controls one or more gas flow to the ion inlet assembly for actively cooling the ion inlet assembly.

Abstract: A Time of Flight analyser comprising a flight tube (160) and a reflectron (170), wherein the reflectron comprises a stack of electrodes (172) that are compressed against the flight tube such that they remain parallel to each other under compression.